Success and how to respond to it. Or not.

There is more than a hint in the text of Luke 12 that the rich man in the parable is not exactly a model. God Himself calls the man a fool in v20. But let us parse his folly. Where exactly do his mistakes lie?

Much could be said. But part of his problem is his reaction to the success he experiences in v16. His ground has produced a good crop. Fantastic! That is, after all, one of the key aims, other things being equal, of arable farming.

How does he react? He has a good problem. V17: “What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.”

But a plan is at hand: v18: “This is what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”

It is easy to be too down on this fellow. Building projects are okay. The Lord does not hate storage or larger out buildings as such. The man has gotten his possessions, as far as we know, lawfully. They are rightly his. Prudent provision for the future and enjoyment of what you have are perfectly legitimate.

But I think we can see a number of issues.

As I said in the previous post, v20 reveals two big mistakes. The man forgets about God and about the judgement to come. He thinks only of himself and though he plans for the long-term future, he has no apparent post-mortem plans!

But we can say more about the man’s reaction to success.

“I” and “myself” are very prominent in vv18-19.

Where is the man’s gratitude to God for the blessings he has received? Man plants and waters but only God gives the growth. The man may have worked hard and wisely, but there is no such thing as a self-made man, not really. We are all we are by the grace of God. It is gift all the way down so the right response to success is always gratitude and never pride.

Has the already rich man been tithing? And could he be even more generous? What good could his money do for his family, friends and community? What would it look like to love his neighbour with his wealth? He might easily transform the lives of many strangers in need. What gospel work could he support that might have a massive eternal impact?

Yes, enjoy the good things God has given you. But do not think only of yourself, your ease and enjoyment.

Where is the man’s sense of vocation to rule and subdue the world, to make earth more like heaven? What is his vocation beyond ease and merriment? (v19) It is good and godly to eat drink and be merry but the Bible says that a life plan which reads “take life easy for many years” is suboptimal. Yes, sabbath and lawful recreation, but not a 40-year holiday.

Jesus himself sums up the man’s mistakes in v21: he stored up things for himself but was not rich towards God.

What does it mean to be rich towards God? That deserves another post.